Family Secrets
by Cajun Quinn
Summary: I looked at some pictures of the Thieves Guild and was hit with inspiration. Could it actually be true? Who knows? Who cares? Chapter Three Uploaded! Please r/r! Thanks!
1. Prologue

Family Secrets

(NOTE: This story idea occurred to me awhile ago, and has been simmering in my mind ever since. I spend a lot of my free time studying the issues of Gambit that have a lot of Guild scenes in them and while the artists changed this (which annoyed me to no end) in Gambit 17, I noticed that Mercy and Genard looked a lot alike. That is where I got this story idea. It finally demanded to be written, so here I am. All characters you recognize belong to Marvel. Pierre, Yvonne, Jacques and Helene belong to me.) 

Prologue 

NEW ORLEANS, 1969 

"When are you gon' tell him, Yvonne?"   
"Tell him what, Tante Mattie? Dere's nothin' to tell. He already knows we're havin' a baby, what more do I need to tell him?" Yvonne Alouette replied, scared to look at the healer's kind, concerned face. She knew what Tante Mattie was talking about, but she didn't want to face facts just yet.   
"You know de truth 'bout dat child you're carryin'. An' Pierre has a right to know too." Tante Mattie said, her voice quiet but firm.   
Yvonne sighed. "I know." She said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I jus' didn' wan' have to tell him yet...I'm already payin' for my mistake, can' dat be enough?"   
"He deserves to know. So does Helene. An' so..." Tante Mattie sat down on the bed beside the young woman, very gently taking the shaking white hand her her own dark, calloused ones. "So does Mercy. When de time comes, so will your son."   
Yvonne's brown eyes widened in horror. "Mon Dieu...she'll hate me...an' worse, she'll hate her father." She looked down at her stomach, tears flowing in rivers down her cheeks. "I wish he didn' have to know...I wish neither of dem ever had to know..."   
"Dat's not your decision to make entirely, child. You need to speak wit' Jacques. An' de two of you need to sit down wit' Pierre an' Helene an' work somethin' out. For your own sakes, but more for Mercy's an' dat little boy's sakes."   
"I know..." 

Two evenings later, Yvonne met with Jacques in the secrecy of Tante Mattie's home. No one but the old woman knew they were there. Jacques looked tired and worn out and when she saw him, Yvonne sighed. She was only in her fifth month of pregnancy and the tension between the two families for the next four months was going to take a toll on her.   
Jacques brushed his wavy blond hair out of his brown eyes and smiled at Yvonne. He still didn't know exactly what made them do what they did in the first place, but that didn't matter so much to Jacques anymore. Now they had to do what was right, no matter what it cost them, for the sake of their unborn child.   
Before leaving them in peace, Tante Mattie had one thing to say. "In half an hour, I'm gettin' Pierre an' Helene to come here to join you so you'd best be prepared when de time comes."   
"We will." Jacques said. "T'ank you, Tante."   
Tante Mattie nodded silently and left them, closing the door as she went. Two pairs of brown eyes looked at each other for a few moments. Finally, Yvonne spoke, breaking the silence with her beautiful voice.   
"What are you going to tell Mercy?"   
Jacques chuckled lightly, sitting down across from Yvonne in one of the plush armchairs. "If I can talk Helene into it, I'm not gon' tell Mercy anythin'. Why should she be forced to suffer wit' de knowledge of what we've done? Why should our son, for dat matter?"   
"I don' want to tell him...but...I jus'...I don' know..." Yvonne hid her face in her hands and cried. She was desperately afraid. Not for herself, but for her son.   
Jacques, concerned over why she was crying so hard all of a sudden, got up and knelt down by her, putting a hand on her arm. "Yvonne? What's wrong? What is it?"   
"What if Pierre rejects him...I'm so scared he won' want to have anythin' to do wit' de baby b'cause he isn' de father...lord, Jacques, we messed up..."   
"Yeah, we did. Big time. Yvonne, I'm sorry..."   
They stayed like that, lost in their own thoughts and regrets, until Pierre and Helene joined them. Although neither of them had ever voiced it, they had had their suspicions about what was going on, and as they walked over to Tante Mattie's house together, they both silently wondered what was going to have to be done.   
"Tante Mattie said you have somethin' to tell us." Pierre said. He was never one to beat around the bush, even in his role as the Harvest Disseminator of the New Orleans Thieves Guild. He looked at his wife for an answer, but it was Jacques who answered instead.   
"Yeah we do. We made a mistake, an' now we have to own up to it.We've been tryin' to figure out why we did it, but I guess it don' matter much now, 'cause it's been done." Jacques sighed and kept going. "Six months ago, Yvonne an' I had an affair."   
Pierre, angry in spite of his suspicions, walked over to the window and stood in front of it, looking out at the dark New Orleans streets. Yvonne rose and joined him, waiting for him to speak before she said anything.   
Helene, her green eyes wide, almost couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "Jacques Cordeau, how could you--" she began and then stopped, bringing her hand up to her mouth in shock as she realized the true result of the affair. "Oh my God...de baby..."   
Across the room, Pierre put his anger in check without saying a word. He continued to look out the window, but he wasn't seeing what was outside. He was lost too deeply in thought. "He's de baby's father isn' he."   
It was a statement, not a question. Yvonne nodded, tears in her eyes and whispered the answer. "Oui. I'm sorry...Pierre, please..."   
"Are you two still...?"   
"Non." Yvonne shook her head. "When I found out I was pregnant, I told him an' we agreed to end it."   
"Okay. I don' know what dey're gon' decide in regards to tellin' Mercy, but if dat little boy finds out de truth, it won' be from me."   
"Does dat mean...?"   
"It means dere's no reason for de children to suffer." Helene said as she and Jacques joined them. "We're not gon' tell Mercy either. At least not now."   
  
NEW ORLEANS, FOUR MONTHS LATER 

Tante Mattie wrapped the newborn little boy up in a soft blanket, singing softly to him the whole time, and laid him in his tired mother's arms with a smile. Yvonne felt an overwhelming surge of love and protectiveness for this small, innocent boy who depended on her for everything.   
"He's beautiful, Tante. Absolutely perfect. What color are his eyes?"   
"Oh didn' you know, all babies are born wit' blue eyes. But given de genetics, I'm willin' to bet dey'll be brown in six months." Tante Mattie replied, going to the door and motioning for Pierre to join them. When he did so, she asked them if they had a name picked out.   
"Actually, we do." Pierre replied, allowing his own love for the baby take control over everything else. He suddenly realized that it didn't matter that he wasn't the baby's biological father. That little boy was his son and nothing was ever going to change that. Period. "We're namin' him Genard Pierre after his grandfathers."   
"An' you. But I know, I know, you were named after your father, so technically he is bein' named after dem." Yvonne laughed.   
Tante Mattie smiled at the young family. "I t'ink de name suits him jus' fine."   
"What name would dat be?" A bright voice asked from the doorway. Mercy Cordeau was twenty years old, tall, blond and beautiful. She had been oblivious to the affair her father had with Yvonne and like everyone else in the Guild clans, she thought of the new baby as just that. A new addition to the family.   
"Mercy, meet Genard Pierre Alouette." Yvonne said, trying not to let her voice catch. Neither Mercy nor Genard must ever suspect the truth. At least not as long as their parents were alive. "Would you like to hold him?"   
"Oh...may I?" Mercy asked, her green eyes lighting up like beautiful gems.   
"Of course you may." Yvonne replied, smiling warmly at the young woman. She gently handed Genard to Mercy, who held him like a pro.   
"He's so cute!" Mercy exclaimed. She gently traced one finger along his tiny face and spoke softly to him. "Well Genard, you are one adorable little boy, you know dat? An' dere's a whole lotta people 'round here who're gon' spoil you absolutely rotten, too. But dat's okay, an' when you get a little older I'll tell you why. An' Henri, Theoren, Claude an' I will teach you how to play poker but you gotta promise me you won' tell anyone."   
"Mercy, what on earth are you sayin' to him?" Pierre asked, confused.   
Mercy laughed, gave the newborn baby a gentle hug and handed him back to his mother. "Genard an' I were jus' talkin' secrets, dat's all Pierre. Don' worry 'bout it."   
With that, Mercy left to go find her friends and Pierre and Yvonne were left in peace with their son.   
"Do you t'ink she knows...?" Yvonne asked, sounding worried.   
Pierre shook his head. "Non. If Jacques an' Helene said dey weren' gon' tell her, den dey didn'."   
"I've written a letter...I've left it wit' Tante Mattie. It's for Mercy an' Genard...Jacques added to it as well. Dere's a good chance Tante Mattie, bein' a healer, will outlive all four of us, an' she gave us her word dat dey won' be given de letter until she's on her deathbed."   
"Dat makes sense. I jus' hope she hides it well enough so dat no one finds it durin' spring cleanin' or somethin' in de meantime." Pierre commented.   
Yvonne sighed and held her baby closer. "Me too...me too." 

To Be Continued 


	2. Chapter One

Family Secrets   
Chapter One

NEW ORLEANS, 1974 

Jean-Luc LeBeau, patriarch of the New Orleans Thieves Guild, parked his car in the driveway of the Alouette home and paused before getting out. He sighed and leaned on the steering wheel for a few moments. He always hated doing this kind of thing, but, as Mattie had told him only fifteen minutes before, she wasn't God, and she had done all she humanly could in her capacity as a healer. There was simply nothing to do but go inside and be there for Pierre and Genard when they needed him.   
That was the most difficult part, in Jean-Luc's mind. Not the being there, that part was easy. But Jean-Luc had to help his friend try to explain to an innocent five-year-old boy that his mother was dead. That was always the hardest part of telling one of the Guild families that a member of that family was killed. Young children didn't find it easy to grasp the idea of death and that someone they love, especially a mother, wasn't ever going to return to them. Jean-Luc sighed again and opened his door, stepping out of the car into the bright New Orleans sunshine.   
"Jean-Luc, wait."   
Jean-Luc stopped in mid-stride and turned to find his daughter-in-law, Mercy, coming towards him. The young woman had married his only son, Henri, three years before, and Jean-Luc was suddenly relieved she was there. Henri must have told her that Yvonne was dead.   
Mercy caught up to him, her blond ponytail swinging down her back. She was the first woman in this history of the Thieves Guild to participate in and pass the tilling, the Guild rite of passage. She had been bound and determined to become a full member of the Guild, rather than just a woman married to a Guild member. She flashed Jean-Luc a bright smile and sighed. "You're gon' need my help, whether you know it or not."   
"I'm glad you've come. I do know you can be of valuable assistance here right now." Jean-Luc, being the Guild leader, the truth behind Genard's paternity, but had promised to uphold the wishes of the four adults involved and not say a word of it to either Genard or Mercy. "It's strange, de bond you formed wit' Genard in such a short time. He's gon' need your help to understand dis."   
"I know, Jean-Luc. Dat's why I came de second I found out Yvonne had died. You an' Pierre can only do so much to help him t'rough dis. Since my father died last year, I t'ink I can explain it better to him." Mercy replied. What she didn't know was that due to her own father's death, both of Genard's biological parents were no longer living.   
Jean-Luc knocked on the front door of the modest split level house and he and Mercy waited for either Pierre or Genard to answer it. They chuckled when they heard the sound of a chair being dragged across the floor. Genard wasn't tall enough to see out the window on his own yet, but even at his young age, he was trained to make sure he knew who was outside before answering the door. They watched him, smiling, as he moved the curtain and looked out at them, a huge grin lighting up his face when he recognized them. He jumped down off the chair and pushed it aside, calling to his father and unlocking the door.   
"Good morning Genard." Jean-Luc greeted the small boy once the door was opened. "May we come in?"   
Genard absently pushed his glasses up on his nose, a gesture that was as automatic to him as breathing, and nodded. "Sure. Papa's in de kitchen. Hi Mercy."   
Mercy followed Jean-Luc into the house, ruffling Genard's wavy blond hair as she passed him. "Hey kiddo."   
"Mercy," Jean-Luc said. "Why don' you an' Genard watch television or somethin' while I speak wit' his father?"   
"Dat sounds like a good idea." Mercy agreed. "Genard, I t'ink de Chipmunks are on, why don' we watch dem?"   
"'Kay." Genard led the way into the living room, watching Jean-Luc go into the kitchen. "What's he wan' talk to Papa for, anyway?" He asked, turning on the television set and finding the Chipmunks.   
"Don' worry 'bout dat jus' yet, kid. You'll find out soon enough." Mercy replied, sitting on the couch and pulling the little boy up into her lap. 

"Pierre, I'm sorry..." Jean-Luc's voice trailed off. He didn't know what else to say. "Mattie did everythin' she could."   
Pierre, who had collapsed in a chair at the kitchen table when given the news, rested his head in his hands with a quiet sob. "What do I do now, Jean-Luc? How can I tell dat little boy in dere dat his momma's dead? How do I...?"   
"De day he was born, you chose to ignore de fact dat he's not your biological son, Pierre. You've been raising him as your own ever since. Why would dat stop now?" Jean-Luc questioned, sitting across from his friend. "He's gon' need you to be strong an' help him. Mercy's here for added support, but you're a key person in Genard's life. You'll figure it out, but I you're gon' have to tell him."   
"Mercy...here...?" Pierre demanded quietly. "Dieu...I s'pose dat's a good t'ing. Well, maybe we should go get dis over wit', neh?"   
"Oui. De sooner, de better."   
Pierre took a deep, shaking breath, and stood up. After composing himself, he led the way to the living room, where Genard and Mercy were laughing over the antics of Alvin, Simon and Theodore. They both looked up when Pierre and Jean-Luc entered the room.   
Mercy gave Pierre a sympathetic smile and he nodded back, a silent thanks for her presence. With the unerring intuition of childhood, Genard instantly knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what.   
"Papa, what's goin' on?" Genard asked, scrambling out of Mercy's lap and looking up at his father, his big brown eyes filled with a questioning fear. "What happened?"   
Pierre sat down on one of the armchairs with a sigh. "Come here, petit."   
Genard went over and stood in front of his father. Pierre picked the little boy up and sat him on his lap. "You know why your momma hasn' been here in de past couple of days, right?"   
"You an' Tante Mattie tol' me dat she got shot." Genard replied candidly. "When is she comin' home?"   
"I don' wan' have to tell you dis, Genard, but Jean-Luc an' Mercy came here today wit' some bad news. Tante Mattie couldn' heal her." Pierre explained.   
Genard's face fell and he frowned as he realized what that meant. Tears formed in his eyes and he looked at his father for anything resembling help. "Momma's...dead?" He asked, his lower lip trembling.   
Pierre wrapped his arms around the shaking child and held him tightly. "Oui."   
They remained that way for what seemed like a very long time. Jean-Luc sat beside Mercy, both of them unable to provide any real source of comfort to them. A short while after the news was broken to Genard, he got up and went upstairs. Mercy saw the grief-stricken look on his young face and sighed, glancing at Jean-Luc, who nodded. Mercy got up and, after giving Pierre a reassuring hug, followed Genard.   
Mercy paused at the door to his room, watching him for a brief moment. He was sitting on his bed holding a framed picture in his hands. Seeing the tears rolling silently down his cheeks, Mercy sighed and knocked lightly on the door.   
"Can I come in, Genard?"   
The small boy nodded his consent and Mercy walked over to him, sitting on the bed beside him. Her initial hunch had been right. The picture he was looking at was of his mother. "Why do dey do t'ings like dis, Mercy?"   
Mercy didn't need to ask who he was talking about. "Dey're mean, evil people, Genard. Dey've been tryin' to wipe out everyone in our fam'ly for centuries. Sometimes de easiest way for dem to get to us is by killin' de people we love most in de world. Like your momma an' my papa." She put an arm around his shoulders and gave him a little hug. "I'm sorry, kiddo. I wish I could change t'ings."   
"Tante Mattie says it's not right to hate anyone, no matter what dey do to you." Genard commented thoughtfully, resting his head on Mercy's shoulder. "Would you tell on me if I tol' you I hate de assassins?"   
"Oh Genard..." Mercy sighed. "I won' tell, but will you promise me somethin'?"   
"What?"   
"Jus' don' let your feelin's towards dem take over your life, especially when you grow up. It's really not right to let hate rule your actions."   
"Okay, I won'..." Genard agreed. He suddenly moved and looked at Mercy with a newfound fear in his dark eyes. "Who's gon' take care of me now? I mean b'sides Papa? I'm jus' a little kid...I can' take care of myself...I don' know how..."   
"Tante Mattie will be here for you de way she's been here for everyone else. An' you got me...I'll be here for you if you need me." Mercy told him. "I promise."   
"T'anks." 

NEW ORLEANS, 1984 

"Hey Genard, where you goin'?"   
Fifteen-year-old Genard stopped at the safehouse door with a sigh. He had been so close to getting out for the day without having to answer that question. His hand was on the doorknob. He could have easily ignored the question and continued on his way, but he knew it would be more beneficial to just talk to the two small boys behind him and get them out of his hair.   
Genard pushed his glasses up on his nose and turned around. He couldn't help but smile at the boys. They were like younger brothers to him and he was grateful to have them around. Eight-year-old Emil and six-year-old Etienne were best friends as well as first cousins. Both were nephews of Jean-Luc and both were, like Genard, being raised by Tante Mattie and their fathers. Or in Etienne's case, older brother.   
"I'm goin' out. I'll be gone all day. Why?"   
"Can we come?" Emil asked from his position on one of the lower stairs of the grand staircase. Etienne was a step higher. They were bored and wanted something to do that didn't require them helping Tante Mattie do any kind of housework. Going out sounded like a great idea to them.   
Genard sighed and went over, sitting on the stairs with them. "I'm sorry guys. I'd love to take you wit' me, an' if it was any other day, I would. But today, I want to be alone. Can you understand dat?"   
Red and blond heads nodded silently. Impulsively, the two boys hugged Genard, something which surprised the teenager greatly. He returned the hug, and decided not to ask them why they did it. Instead he said,   
"Aww...t'anks you two. Dat was jus' what I needed. How 'bout if tomorrow, I take you to dat miniature golf place you've been buggin' everyone 'bout?"   
"Really?" Etienne asked, blue eyes lighting up. He and Emil had been trying to talk soemone to take them mini golfing for weeks, but none of the grown ups ever had time. They had never asked Genard if he'd take them, because they hadn't thought he'd want to take them.   
Genard laughed. "Yeah really. Now you guys stay out of Tante Mattie's hair today, okay? I'll be back later."   
  
After leaving the safehouse, Genard walked down the streets of New Orleans lost in his own thoughts. After a brief stop at a flowershop, he ended up right where he wanted to be. He placed the flowers he'd bought on his mother's grave with a sigh. It had been ten years since his mother was killed and not a day went by that he didn't miss her. After speaking to her and wondering, not for the first time, if she even knew he was there, he walked around and looked at the graves of the other long-dead thieves.   
For some reason, he paused longer at the side-by-side graves of Mercy's parents, Jacques and Helene. Genard knew that Jacques had died less than a year before his mother, but that was it. He didn't really remember much about the man, just that Mercy got her personality and her hair from him. Helene, on the other hand, had died six months ago, and Genard knew Mercy missed her deeply.   
Genard felt his father's presence before Pierre had even spoken a word. "I t'ought you'd be over talkin' to Momma."   
Pierre chuckled sadly. "I could say de same 'bout you. What brings you to dis side of de cemetary, Genard?"   
"I've already been to talk to Momma." Genard explained. "I jus' kind of felt like visitin' everyone else too. I don' know what made me stay here longer den de others t'ough..."   
'I do, but I'm not tellin' you.' Pierre thought. Aloud, he said, "It's prob'ly b'cause you know how much Mercy misses Helene. You an' Mercy have always been close friends, which is incredible, given de difference in your ages."   
"Yeah...maybe dat's it." Genard agreed, putting it out of his mind and changing the subject, much to Pierre's unspoken relief. "I'm takin' Emil an' Etienne to dat miniature golf place tomorrow."   
"Oh really? Dat'll be fun. Maybe you should see if Claude would like to go too. He doesn' get out away from de rest of us much. It might be good for him to hang out wit' you young people for a day."   
Genard thought for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah, it prob'ly would."   
"What are you gon' do for de rest of today?" Pierre asked.   
"I was t'inkin' of goin' for a nice long walk. You wan' join me, Papa?"  
Pierre shook his head. "Non, dat's alright, I jus' wanted to make sure you were okay."   
"I'm fine, Papa." Genard confirmed. "Jus' feelin' nostalgic right now."   
"Okay. I'll see you back at home den." 

Back at the safehouse a few hours later, Mercy was startled by a knock on her bedroom door. She put down the book she was reading and looked up to find Genard standing there.   
"What'cha readin', Merce?"   
"_To Kill a Mockingbird. _It used to belong to my mother. I've been t'inkin' about her a lot lately. Have you ever read it?" Mercy asked. "Oh, an' come in. Have a seat."   
Genard sat down on the chair at the desk and shook his head. "Non, never read it. Is it good?"   
"Yeah. I've read it about ten times an' I still love it. Did you go...?"   
Genard nodded. "Yeah. Spent part of de mornin' dere an' den walked around town an' de swamps for de rest of de day. It's been a long day."   
"I know. How're you holdin' up?"   
"Okay, considerin'. I'd like to take my mind off it, t'ough. I jus' wish I knew how."   
As if on cue, before Mercy had time to suggest anything, Claude knocked on the door. "Hey, so dis is where you two've been hidin'! Jean-Luc, Henri, Pierre an' Francois jus' challenged Theoren an' I to a monopoly championship an' we could use some help. You guys wan' join us an' try to kick deir butts, or...?"   
Mercy and Genard looked at each other and grinned. Just the distraction they were both looking for. "Lead de way, Claude." Genard said. "Dey won' know what hit 'em."   
Tante Mattie, after putting the two young boys to bed upstairs, heard the laughter and banter from the living room and went to see what was going on. She stood in the doorway and watched them play with a light heart. It wasn't often the thieves got a chance to kick back and have some fun, and she encouraged any attempt they made at enjoying themselves. However, when Genard finally lost everything he had to Henri, who gloated like a madman set on ruling the world, Mattie insisted it was time the teenager went to bed.   
"Aww, but Tante...can' I stay an' watch for awhile? Please?" Genard begged. He was tired, but he didn't want to leave the fun just yet.   
The old woman shook her head and tapped her watch. "It's already well past your bedtime, an' you've had a long day. Dey can tell you what happened tomorrow mornin'. Now, you say goodnight to everyone an' come along."   
Less then an hour later, Mattie went in to check on Genard. She was happy to see he was sound asleep, just like he should be. She hovered near his bed for a few minutes and said a silent prayer that both she and Pierre would be dead before he had to find out the truth. Sure, she had promised to give Genard and Mercy that letter before she died, but Mattie was beginning to think it might be best for both of them if they got the news when there was no one alive they could get angry at for keeping the secret in the first place. 

To Be Continued 


	3. Chapter Two

Family Secrets   
Chapter Two

(Author's Note: The first scene in this story is taken directly from another story written by me, one of the Thief Chronicles. I did this because I didn't really feel like attempting to recreate an idea for the events surrounding a certain part of Genard's life when I already had it written somewhere else. You'll have to forgive me, but if you think about it, I'm allowed to do this because I'm simply using part of one of my other stories to write this one. Makes sense, I think. The only thing I changed was Genard's age when this happened. In the original story he was 28 years old, in this one he's 23.) 

NEW ORLEANS, 1992 

"Okay, guys, de security system is down. Go on in. An' be careful. I'll keep an eye on t'ings at dis end." Emil said into his   
headset. He was sitting at the computer in his room. Mercy and Genard were standing behind him, watching the screens with   
him. Yes, screens. Emil had quite the elaborate computer setup, as befitting a trained specialist.   
"You know, I'm not sure I like dis…" Mercy said.   
Emil swiveled around to look at his friends. "Why not? Dey'll be okay, we'll keep an eye on dem from here, an' dey're always careful."   
"I know…I jus' have a weird feelin'." Mercy replied.   
"Oh don' get started wit' dose feelings of yours, Merce. Last time you got a weird feelin, de Assassins tried to blow up Tante Mattie's house." Genard laughed.   
"Oui, but I really do have a bad feelin'." Mercy told them. "I don' like it at all. Emil, keep an eye on dose screens."   
"Yes, Ma'am!" Emil said sarcastically, turning back around to face the monitors again. Mercy didn't catch the fact that he rolled his eyes, but Genard did, and he laughed even harder.   
Three members of the Guild, Jean-Luc, Pierre and Theoren were attempting to get crucial Assassin information from the   
Boudreaux mansion while the Assassins were holding a meeting elsewhere. Emil had hacked into the security system at the   
mansion and had one monitor of his computer keeping an eye on the outside of the mansion, while the other one was scanning   
the inside, keeping an eye on what the three thieves were doing.   
Things were quiet for five minutes. Then Emil noticed some movement outside the mansion. He hit a few keys on the keyboard and a close-up showed that it was Marius Boudreaux and two members of the Assassins Guild coming back after the meeting.   
"Uh-oh…" he muttered, switching on his headset again. "Heads up guys, Marius, Gris-Gris and Fifolet are comin' in t'rough de front door. Get de hell out of dere!"   
Genard peered over his best friend's shoulder at the screens. "Looks like you might've been right, Merce. Much as I hate to say it."   
"Sorry…but I had the feelin' an' had to say somet'ing…" she apologized. "Are de guys armed?"   
"Don' know. Didn' ask." Emil replied, shortly, hitting keys like his life depended on it and screaming into the headset. "What are you doin' Jean-Luc…? I don' care if you're sittin' on top of de damned information, get out of dere, now!"   
"You want me to talk to him?" Genard offered. Emil shook his head.   
"Non, but if dey don' get dere butts out of dat mansion now I'll kill dem myself when dey get back."   
"No you won'." Genard laughed.   
"Well, okay, no I won', but I feel like it right now." Like many redheads, Emil had a bit of a temper, and the fact that their   
partners weren't listening to him was about to put him over the edge. He felt they were putting themselves in an unnecessary risk   
by staying at the Boudreaux mansion when they were very close to getting caught.   
"Um…Emil?" Mercy said, pointing at the screen.   
"What?" Emil demanded, looking at where she was pointing. "Oh no…damn."   
The three Assassins had figured out somehow that someone other than them was in the mansion. They were standing outside the library and had pulled out guns. The library was where the thieves were. And unless Jean-Luc, Pierre and Theoren had guns in their outfits, they were in big trouble.   
"Hey! Dey're…dey've got guns!" Genard exclaimed, eyes wide. He suddenly had a very bad feeling of his own in the pit of his stomach, and started silently praying that nothing would happen to his father. "Emil, do somet'ing!"   
Emil threw up his hands. "Like what?! Dey've been warned! I told dem! I can'…I mean…dere's not'ing…GAH! Listen. All we can do right now is sit here, watch an' hope dat not'ing goes wrong."   
"An' if it does go wrong…" Genard questioned.   
"Den it goes wrong. Dere's not'ing we can do…we'd never get dere in time to stop anyt'ing from happenin'." Emil replied.   
"Now shhhh…de Assassins are goin' in…please dear Lord…" 

For the next ten minutes, the three young thieves sat in Emil's room and watched the scene at the Boudreaux mansion in horror. Jean-Luc, Pierre and Theoren were armed, but they only had knives. And knives don't hold up against guns very well in any kind of situation.   
Genard's eyes were glued to his father. Praying like mad, he watched every move Pierre made. He was seriously worried about what was taking place at the mansion and felt helpless because he couldn't do a thing about it.   
Mercy noticed that he was nervous and put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay, Genard?"   
Genard shook his head, causing his glasses to slide down his nose. Shoving them back up, he replied, " Non. I won' be okay until dis is over an' my father is safely away from dat house."   
Unfortunately, Genard did not get what he wanted. He watched in silent horror as Fifolet, one of the Assassins, tossed his gun aside when he ran out of bullets, and pulled out a knife. Up until that point, the thieves had been lucky, able to dodge bullets with ease. However, Fifolet was good with a knife, and within minutes, he had stabbed Pierre in the chest.   
When Genard saw that scene unfold, he gasped and closed his eyes in despair. He turned away, clenching his eyes shut as   
tightly as he could and trying to breathe properly. "Is he…?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.   
"Jean-Luc?" Emil said into the headset. "Is Pierre…?" When he heard Jean-Luc's answer, he sighed and took the headset off. Then he got up and went over to where his friend was standing.   
"I'm sorry, mon ami," he said sadly, putting a hand on Genard's shoulder as his friend broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.   
Mercy put her hand on Genard's other shoulder and looked at Emil helplessly. Neither one of them really knew what to do.   
They knew how close Genard and his father had been…aside from the Guild, they were all they had. As far as most of them knew, anyway.   
"Help…" Genard whispered, tears flowing down his cheeks even though his eyes were closed.   
Mercy and Emil both squeezed his shoulders. "We're here…an' de others will be too, you know dat." Mercy said.   
Genard opened his eyes and turned to his two friends. "I know," he told them with a sad smile. "I jus' don' know if dat's   
enough…" 

Two days later, Genard was as stoic as could be expected as he and the rest of the Guild laid his father to rest in the grave site right next to his mother's. When the funeral was over, he went off on his own for a walk, telling the others he'd be back for supper. He needed to be alone and think for awhile, he explained, and they all respected his wishes. Tante Mattie spoke privately with Jean-Luc in the safehouse kitchen while the rest of the thieves scattered in twos and threes to various other parts of the house.   
"Part of me wants to jus' tell dem, Jean-Luc." The healer said candidly. "I wish I hadn' made dat promise to Jacques an' Yvonne. I know I can' go 'gainst dat promise, an' I won', but now dat Pierre is gone..."   
"Dey each t'ink dey have no one left, when we bot' know dat's not true." Jean-Luc finished with a wry smile. "I know. Twenty-three years ago, four people made a decision to not tell de truth an' dey asked us to go along wit' dat decision. Pierre is de last of dat foursome an' it's hard to see Mercy an' Genard feelin' so alone when dey don' have to be."  
"Is dat wrong?"   
"I should be askin' you dat, not de other way around, Mattie." Jean-Luc laughed. "I don' t'ink it's wrong, non. I t'ink it's only natural, given de information we have an' knowin' how dey feel. But we can' break de promise, we can' tell dem. No matter how much we might want to."   
"Exactly what I was t'inkin'." Mattie smiled. "Dat letter Yvonne an' Jacques wrote is hidden in a safe enough place at any rate, I don' t'ink dey'll find it even if dey ain' lookin' for it."   
"Well dat's good. Even better is dey won' be lookin' for it b'cause dey don' have any reason to suspect anythin' of de sort even exists."   
"What are you talkin' 'bout?" A voice said from the doorway, startling the two friends. They turned, shocked, to see Jean-Luc's adopted son, Remy standing there with a questioning look on his fine features. His unique red-on-black eyes darted from his father to Mattie and back again as he tried to piece together the missing pieces of the puzzle.   
"Remy, how long were you standin' dere, Chil'?" Mattie demanded quietly.   
The sixteen-year-old Remy shook his head. "Not long, Tante. I promise. But what are you talkin' 'bout? I know it's got somethin' to do wit' Mercy an' Genard 'cause you mentioned Mercy's father an' Genard's mother an' somethin' 'bout a letter, but what does dat have to do wit' anythin'?"   
Jean-Luc and Mattie looked at each other with raised eyebrows. The question put to them now was whether or not they should trust Remy to keep the secret from Genard and Mercy. Jean-Luc cleared his throat.   
"It's really none of your business, Remy. I'm sorry. I t'ink it would be best for everyone involved if as few people as possible know what we're talkin' 'bout. Okay?"   
Remy raised his own eyebrows and gave his father a skeptical look. "As few people as possible meanin' you an' Tante, right? Okay, I gotcha, but you might wan' let Mercy an' Genard in on de whole t'ing if it concerns dem. Don' dey got a right to know de truth too?"   
"When de time is right, Remy." Jean-Luc replied. "When de time is right, dey'll find out de truth. Dat much we can tell you. But it's not up to us to decide when dat time is."   
"Okay, okay. Jus' don' be surprised if dey get mad or somethin', y'know?"   
"Remy, why don' you go see what Emil's up to?" Mattie suggested. "Maybe de two of you can go to a movie or somethin'. Get you out of de house for awhile." 

Upstairs in their rooms in the safehouse, Mercy and Henri were watching television and absently talking about the funeral and Genard.   
"I remember when Papa died...I felt so alone..." Mercy commented. "I mean, I was lucky enough dat Mama was still alive, an' I had you an' Jean-Luc an' everybody, but Pierre was de last livin' relative Genard had. I know he's tryin' his best to hide his pain, but he's gotta be goin' t'rough hell right now."   
Henri nodded. "I was still pretty young when my own mother died...younger den Genard was when Yvonne died. I barely remember what she was like, you know? When Yvonne died, I could relate to Genard, sort of, because I'd been dere myself. Dis time...I don' have a clue how he feels. Are you gon' help him?"   
"Yeah...he an' I have always been close...I t'ink I can help him, or at least do what I can to be dere for him."   
"You're prob'ly de best person for de job, bot' now an' in de long run. He trusts you." Henri said, wrapping his arms around his wife and giving her a hug.   
"T'anks." Mercy replied, returning the hug with a smile. 

NEW ORLEANS, 1997 

Genard knocked quietly on Mercy's bedroom door and waited for her to answer. Mercy, not looking any older than she did when Genard was born, sat up on her bed and wiped the tears off her face. She really didn't want any visitors, but somehow she knew who was outside her door and she couldn't turn him away. They had been through far too much together for them to stop leaning on each other now.   
"Come in Genard."   
Shoving his glasses up on his nose, Genard pushed open the door and closed it behind him after he entered. He pulled Mercy's desk chair around and sat in it facing her with a concerned look on his face. "You'll be okay, Merce."   
Mercy raised her eyebrows, her green eyes still shining with tears. "Why do you sound so sure of yourself?"   
"B'cause I know it's true. Someone very wise kept insistin' dat same t'ing to me over an' over again all my life an' after awhile I started belivin' her b'cause she was never wrong. It might take awhile, an' it might seem like you'll never make it, but you will." Genard said.   
"Genard..."   
"Oh come on, Mercy. I had a good teacher. You. You've been dere for me t'rough t'ick an' t'in for as long as I can remember, an' I'll never forget dat. Now it's my turn. I'm a big boy, Merce. You been takin' care of me for years...can I take care of you now? Jus' dis once?"   
Mercy nodded, crying openly again. Genard sighed softly and moved over, sitting beside her on the bed. He gave her a supportive hug. Mercy, looking more fragile than Genard had ever seen her, leaned on his shoulder. "I can' b'lieve dey did dis...all he was doin' was gettin' Remy for de tithin'...an' dey jus' killed him wit'out even havin' a real reason..."   
"I know, Merce. I know. I also know dat it's okay to be mad at dem, it's okay to even hate dem, as long as you don' let it get de best of you. You know who taught me dat?"   
Mercy sniffled and chuckled through her tears. "I did."   
"Dat's right." Genard confirmed. "Mercy, you're one of de smartest, strongest women I've ever known. Henri didn' marry you jus' b'cause you're beautiful, you know. He loved your strength, your fearless way of sayin' what you t'ink an' your determination to be de best you could be at what we do. You went 'gainst all odds an' won. Dat's amazin'. He admired you, an' so do I. So does everyone else 'round here. Okay, so de assassins followed Henri an' killed him. Do you know what you do now?"   
"Non, but I'm sure I tol' you at some point..." Mercy commented.   
Genard grinned. "Yeah. I learned pretty early on to remember de t'ings you tol' me. You have a habit of bein' right 'bout dese t'ings. An' now, my dear Mercy, you take whatever time you need to grieve for Henri. De rest of us will be here for you when you need us to be, I can promise you dat. When de time comes you keep movin' forward wit' your life. It won' be easy, but you can do it. You're a survivor, like everyone in dis fam'ly an' you'll be fine."   
"T'anks Genard. Deep down I know you're right, an' dat gives me hope. I jus' need time." 

Meanwhile, up in the safehouse attic, Emil was on a mission for Tante Mattie. She had asked him if he could find the extension cords. She and Jean-Luc wanted to get the Christmas decorations ready, and in order to do that, they needed both the outside and inside extension cords for the lights. Mattie had forgotten that there was a box in the attic which contained the letter for Mercy and Genard. Emil was randomly pulling boxes out and looking through them, trying to find the extension cords, when he accidentally found the box with the letter in it. Tilting his head to one side, sat down on a crate and took the envelope out of the box and turned it over. Seeing Mercy's and Genard's named written on the envelope, Emil raised his eyebrows.   
"What de heck is dis?" 

To Be Continued 


	4. Chapter Three

Family Secrets   
Chapter Three

"Put it back, Chil'."   
Emil looked up and saw Tante Mattie standing across the room from him. Mattie had known instantly when he found the letter and silently berated herself for allowing anyone to have access to the attack without her supervision. She also knew she had to handle Emil carefully and make sure he didn't learn anything about the contents of the letter. Emil had a tendency of speaking before thinking, and keeping his mouth shut wasn't something that came easy to him.   
"Tante..." Emil began. "What...?"   
"Non, Emil. Don' question it. Jus' put it back, an' forget it's here." Mattie commanded.   
"But Tante Mattie...do dey...?"   
"Emil...what did I jus' say?"   
Emil sighed in defeat. "Okay, okay." He put the letter back in the box and returned the box to the shelf he found it on. Then he went over to Mattie and asked one more question before he resumed his search. "Can I ask jus' one t'ing?"   
Mattie raised her eyebrows, her dangly earrings swinging on either side of her kind face. "What is it?"   
"Are dey ever gon' get to see what's inside dat envelope?"   
"Oui." Mattie replied. "An' until dat day, dey will not know of its existance. Do you understand dat?"   
The red-haired thief nodded. "Yes Ma'am." 

NEW ORLEANS, 2001 

"Non, I ain' dead yet, Mattie. Far from it. Been spendin' a lot of time researchin' de prophecies an' de Guild histories wit' de Antiquary, much as I hate him. How are t'ings back home?" Jean-Luc's voice was music to Tante Mattie's ears when she heard it over the phone.   
"De Antiquary is a pain in de neck, always has been." Mattie agreed candidly with a small laugh. "An' t'ings here are touchy to say de very least."   
"It isn' easy for de two Guilds to be unified, non. Marius an' I always knew dat would be a big challenge for dem. But how are dey? Is everyone okay?"   
"Everyone's fine, Jean-Luc. Dey miss you t'ough."   
"Oui...dat's only to be expected, especially for Theoren an' Mercy, perhaps, b'cause dey're older den de others...an' how are you feelin' yourself? You're not gettin' any younger you know. Happy belated birthday, by de way." Jean-Luc laughed.   
"I've been thinkin' 'bout dat a lot lately, mon ami. Gettin' older, I mean. What do you suggest I do? I want to keep my promise to Yvonne an' Jacques, but on de other hand..." Mattie's voice trailed off.   
"On the other hand, would it really be beneficial to Mercy an' Genard to have dem find out de truth when dere's no one who was actually dere to talk to 'bout it?" Jean-Luc questioned. "You an' I are de last remainin' members of dis fam'ly who know de truth, an' I'm not dere, nor will I ever be again. Dey're gon' have a lot of questions...an' if no one can give dem de answers, dey'll be more at risk of gettin' hurt by de truth."   
"I was thinkin' along de same lines. But I'd feel like I was lettin' Yvonne an' Jacques down." Mattie commented softly.   
"Mattie. Listen to me. It's been thirty-two years. I don' t'ink Jacques an' Yvonne would be upset if you broke dat old promise. Your loyalty to dem is unwaverin', as always. But Mercy an' Genard are gon' need you when dey find out de truth. Don' wait until it's too late."   
"You're right, Jean-Luc. I'll tell dem. But here's another question for you, if you got de time b'fore you go...how do I tell dem? Separately or together, an' if it's separately, who do I tell first?"   
Jean-Luc sighed tolerantly. "Don' be wastin' my time askin' me questions you already know de answers too, Mattie Baptiste. You still got my address here?"   
"Oui."   
"Den write an' let me know how it goes. An' don' tell anybody dat I called or dey'll all show up here tryin' to convince me to come back or somethin' when we all know dat's impossible. Take care. Of yourself an' dem."   
Mattie smiled as she hung up the phone. Jean-Luc always knew. He was always right on the money...in some ways more intuitive than she was herself. "Always, mon ami. Always." She left her room and headed towards the safehouse attic to retrieve the long-hidden letter. 

Mercy's bedroom door was open and the light flooded out into the hallway, along with the sound of laughter. Mercy, Genard, Emil, Theoren, Claude and Zoe, the Guild's resident transplant from Tokyo, were playing charades. Mattie laughed lightly as she watched them from the hallway for a moment before making her presence known.   
"I hate to break up dis little party," she said, glad the letter was safely hidden in her pocket. "But I have to speak wit' Mercy 'bout somethin' an' it has to be in private. I'm sorry."   
"Oh dat's okay Tante Mattie." Genard grinned, following the others out of the room. "We were gon' stop soon anyway. We still have to go rent a movie for tonight. Now's as good a time as any."   
Mercy leaned back on her bed, her blond hair contrasting beautifully with the dark green of her comforter and pillow cases. She cast the healer a curious look. "What's dis 'bout, Tante?"   
Mattie sighed, finding telling the truth to be a lot harder than she'd always anticipated. "A long time ago, Jean-Luc an' I were entrusted wit' a life-changin' secret dat de adults involved in felt would be best kept. I've been thinkin' a lot about dat secret lately an' it's occurred to me dat dere really isn't any good reason, aside from not breakin' a promise, to keep de secret any longer."   
"Tante Mattie you're talkin' in riddles! What's goin' on?" Mercy asked, slightly exasperated.   
Pulling the letter out of her pocket, Mattie sighed again. "When you read dis letter, it's gon' change your life, Chil'. As well as de life of someone else in dis fam'ly. I wasn' s'posed to do dis until I was dyin', but de more I t'ought 'bout it, de more I knew I couldn' do dat. I couldn' tell you de truth an' den not be dere to help you understand it." She handed the letter to Mercy, who took it and paused as she saw the other name on the envelope.   
"Tante Mattie...what...?"   
Mattie shook her head. "Jus' read de letter, Mercy."   
Mercy did as she was told, opening the sealed envelope, still wondering what on earth was going on, and started to read. She recognized Yvonne's handwriting, and her own father's little additions in the margins of the pages. Mattie watched as Mercy's brilliant green eyes widened in shock as she read about the affair her father and Yvonne had had, and as the truth of Genard's paternity dawned on her, she put the letter down and looked at Mattie.   
"All dese years..."   
"Dey didn' wan' hurt either of you. None of dem could bear doin' dat. So dey kept it a secret. I knew an' so did Jean-Luc, but dat was it."   
Mercy picked the letter back up and finished reading it. By the time she was done, tears were flowing down her cheeks in salty rivers. Mattie moved closer to the younger woman and put a kind, soothing hand on her arm. "Talk to me, Mercy. What are you thinkin'?"   
Mercy got up, still crying and moved to the other side of the room, staring absently at a picture of herself and her parents taken on the day she was made an official member of the Thieves Guild. "I'm thinkin' I can' b'lieve my father had an affair when I was twenty years old an' I didn' know it. An' yet I'm thinkin' dat on some subconscious level, I must have known. I wish..."   
"You wish dey'd been honest wit' you an' Genard in de first place an' not kept it a secret." Mattie finished.   
"Yes!" Mercy exclaimed, whirling around. "I can understand dem not wantin' to hurt us, but b'lievin' t'ings are one way all your life an' suddenly findin' out you've been lied to for thirty-some-odd years...dat hurts too. What were dey thinkin'? What were you thinkin', to go along wit' keepin' de secret?"   
"I'm sorry, Chil'. I really am. Dey t'ought it was in your best interests, an' at de time, so did Jean-Luc an' I. We never intended for anyone to get hurt. Dere was enough hurt in both your fam'lies when Pierre an' your mother found out 'bout de affair an' de result of it..." Mattie explained.   
Mercy shook her head. She understood that, just as she understood why her mother and Pierre didn't disrupt the waters with their anger and hurt. Guild life was a fragile thing and the bonds formed within the smaller family units were very strong. "Mon Dieu...all dis time...each of us thinkin' we had no blood relations left...when in reality we weren' alone...have you told him yet?"   
"Non...I wanted to tell you first..."   
"Dat's not gon' be easy to do...lord...dis is so hard to comprehend, you know? I never understood why I felt so connected to him, from de day he was born...why dat bond we have formed...an' jus' kept gettin' stronger as de time went by...Henri even said on more den one occasion dat Genard an' I acted like siblings...we never knew why..."   
"Now you know. Perhaps it's like you said...perhaps somewhere inside, you knew he's your brother, but you never had reason to t'ink 'bout it so you pushed it aside." Mattie commented. "Is de knowledge of de truth gon' change anythin' for you, Mercy?"   
Mercy laughed, a contemplative look crossing her face. "Genard's my little brother...how hard to b'lieve is dat? I t'ink I need some time, Tante...I need to find a way to wrap my mind around it an' den move on from dere...on one hand it makes so much sense...but it's so unbelievable..." Mercy's voice trailed off and she sighed. "To answer your question, Tante, non. If anythin', shouldn' dis bring Genard an' I closer?"   
Mattie smiled. "It should. But one never knows 'bout t'ings like dis."   
"I'm goin' to go for a walk, Tante. I need to clear my head...an' I t'ink I need to talk to my father. Are you gon' tell him now, or...?"   
"I was plannin' on it, yes." Mattie confirmed. "Now dat you know, dere's no reason for him not to."   
"Okay." 

As Mercy left the safehouse and started walking up the sidewalk into the heart of New Orleans, Tante Mattie walked down the hallway of the second floor of the safehouse and knocked on a bedroom door.   
"Come in." Genard called from inside the bedroom.   
"I t'ought you were goin' to get a movie for tonight?" Mattie questioned by way of greeting after she entered the room, shutting the door firmly behind her and choosing to sit on Genard's windowseat. Genard himself was sprawled on his bed reading a comic book.   
"We did." Genard replied, tossing the book aside with a laugh. "De joys of Remy bein' able to borrow Bella Donna's car whenever we need it. What was all dat serious private stuff wit' Mercy 'bout? You got dat same look on your face now an' I'm not sure I like it."   
Mattie handed Genard the letter. "I want you to read dis, Chil'. It's been up in de attic for many years, at the request of your mother actually. It was meant for bot' you an' Mercy...she's already read it, an' now it's your turn."   
Genard took the letter and looked at it without opening it for a few moments. "Tante Mattie...I...what does dis have to...?"   
"Sometimes t'ings aren' always as dey appear to be, Genard. Read de letter."   
Pushing his glasses up on his nose, Genard opened up the letter and began to read. He read the entire letter without comment, although Mattie noticed he was shaking by the time he'd finished. He handed the letter back when he was done reading it, looking at Mattie with a look of mixed shock, pain and amazement in his brown eyes.   
"Is it true, Tante? I mean...it...it...dey proved it, right?"   
Mattie got up and sat beside him, just as she had with Mercy. She let him know she was there if he needed to lean on her. "Yes, Genard. It's true. Mercy is your sister." 

To Be Continued 


	5. Chapter Four

Family Secrets   
Chapter Four

Genard didn't know how to react. Mattie knew it must be a blow to the young man to learn such a shocking truth so suddenly, so she just sat there and waited for his complete reaction, whether it be good or bad.   
"I don' know what to t'ink, Tante..." Genard said quietly. Dere are so many t'ings goin' t'rough my head right now dat it's all a huge jumble."   
"Do you wan' talk 'bout it?"   
"Yeah...but...where's Mercy?" he replied with a small smile. "I'm sorry Tante..."   
Mattie chuckled softly. "Don' be sorry, Chil'. You an' Mercy need to talk 'bout dis...it might help you to get your t'oughts straightened out. She went for a walk, an' I t'ink she had plans to go to de graveyard. You'll prob'ly find her dere, if I'm not mistaken."   
"T'anks." 

It wasn't hard for Genard to find Mercy once he got to the graveyard. He spotted her across the acres of gravestones and monuments, as she stood by the graves of her parents, seemingly lost in thought. He was suddenly nervous about talking to her about what they had each just learned, and he didn't know why. Shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his tan trenchcoat, Genard sighed and walked through the graveyard to join Mercy   
Mercy's long blonde hair was blowing around her pale face; the ponytail she typically wore it in wasn't even helping to keep it out of her face. She wore her typical red jumpsuit, and had a white sweatshirt over it to keep her arms warm. There was a cool breeze in New Orleans that evening, and Mercy shivered in spite of her sweatshirt as Genard approached her. She sensed him coming towards her without having to turn around, and she waited for him to get closer before saying anything to him.   
"Quite de revelation, non?"   
Genard sighed again as he came to a stop beside Mercy. He shoved his glasses up on his nose and agreed with her. "Yeah. Pretty hard to b'lieve..."   
Mercy glanced over at Genard curiously. "What was your first reaction to it?"   
"Um...stunned silence, I t'ink, you'd have to ask Tante." Genard laughed. "So many questions, so many jumbled up t'oughts an' feelin's...it's hard to have an actual reaction..."   
"You wan' talk?"   
Genard's brown eyes locked on Mercy's green ones. "Do you?"   
"I t'ink we should...an' we're here...so why not?" Mercy gestured towards the park on the far side of the graveyard, where there was a bench under a tall oak tree. "How 'bout we go sit for awhile?"   
The two companions sat beside each other on the park bench in silence for a few moments before Genard broke the silence. "Dey said in de letter dat you didn' know either..."   
"Non...I didn' even suspect a t'ing...I was twenty years old an' my father was havin' an affair under my very nose an' I didn' have a clue. Neither did my mother." Mercy replied. "It's strange...dey hid it well, I'll give 'em dat much."   
"My father didn' know either, it seems. Not until dey tol' him." Genard agreed. "Hey...you asked what my initial reaction was...what was yours?"   
"Pretty much de same, but a little diff'rent. I got de feelin' dat all your life, all de time I've known you, I knew, deep in my soul." Mercy explained. "From de day you were born, I felt some kind of connection to you, an' I didn' really know why."   
"Do you wish dey'd told you?" Genard asked, his curiosity piqued.   
"Part of me does, but part of me understands why dey didn'. De more I t'ink 'bout it, de more proud of my mother an' your father I get."   
Genard frowned. "What do you mean? Dey kept dis a secret from us for t'irty years...dat's not fair..."   
"Maybe not, but t'ink 'bout it, Genard. Dey could have ended deir marriages, broken up our fam'lies, over dat affair. Dey could have tol' me right away, an' tol' you as soon as you were old enough to understand it. Instead, dey chose to protect us, especially you. Dey went 'bout deir lives as if nothin' had happened, an'..."   
"An' it didn' matter to my father dat he wasn'..." Genard finished, his voice trailing off before he could complete the sentence.   
"Exactly. An' de rest of de guild...de ones who knew anyway...an' I t'ink only Jean-Luc an' Tante Mattie knew...backed up deir decision."   
"Yeah...I guess it was a pretty okay t'ing to do. I'm...I dunno..." Genard absently shoved his glasses up on his nose and sniffled a little, revealing his emotional unease.   
"I know how you feel...it's a lot to take in right now..." Mercy agreed, putting a slender arm around his shoulders. "No one said we had to get used to it tonight...it's gon' take some time. But I know one t'ing for absolute sure."   
"What's dat?"   
"Dis news ain' gon' change anythin' for us. You an' me, we been too close for too long to let anythin', even de truth, come between us. We'll just take it one day at a time, an' I'm sure Tante Mattie can help us too...I know we weren' s'posed to find out until after she died, an' I t'ink she told us now so dat she'd be here to help if we needed her."   
"Yeah...Maybe we should go home now, huh?"   
Mercy nodded. "Yeah. She's prob'ly worried 'bout us. An' de others are prob'ly wonderin' why we're missin' de movie..."   
Genard laughed and stood up, extending his hand to Mercy, who took it with a smile and stood beside him. "I don' know 'bout you, but I don' really feel like watchin' a movie tonight..." he said as they started walking back to the safehouse.   
  
At the safehouse, all the thieves and assassins were assembled in the living room watching the movie, eating popcorn and joking around. Gris-Gris kept threatening to knock Emil's chair over because Emil was throwing the popcorn into Gris' long beaded dreadlocks instead of eating it, much to the amusement of some of the other Guild members. Tante Mattie was sitting alone in the dim light of the kitchen, thinking about the past, the present and the future of the two thieves who had left over an hour before and not returned yet. She was more than a little relieved when the back door opened and they emerged from the darkness of the cool New Orleans night.   
Intuitively Tante Mattie knew they were still dealing with it. She could feel the uncertainty they were each feeling about what had happened, and the circumstances around the events and couldn't blame them for it. She just hoped the truth wouldn't change their relationship.   
"I'm glad you've returned." Mattie said, motioning for them to sit with her. "How are you doin'?"   
Mercy spoke first. "We're okay, considerin'. We're glad you're here t'ough...dis would be so much harder to go t'rough if you weren'."   
Mattie nodded, her earrings swinging on either side of her face. "Is dere anythin' you wan' talk 'bout...any questions...?"   
"I understand why dey chose not to tell us," Genard began. "But I don' understand why dey couldn' tell us once I grew up, why dey had to wait to do it when dey were all dead...I don' get dat..."   
"I know, Chil'. It don' make any sense, but regardless of what dey did, dey did it b'cause dey wanted to keep from causin' you guys a lot of undue pain an' heartache." Mattie explained from her seat across from him. "Dat was deir big concern, hurtin' you two."   
"But didn' dey realize dat no matter when dey tol' us, it would shake us up? It don' matter how or when we found out, it still hurts." Genard said, his voice filled with tears. He loved Mercy, and nothing was going to change that. Deep down he was glad to learn that the bond they had always shared was for a reason. But he was still hurting over not being able to talk to his parents and Mercy's parents about what had happened in the year before he was born.   
"Would you have been happier if dey'd taken you aside when you were growin' up an' tol' you de truth den?" Mattie questioned.   
Genard considered how he felt for a few moments before answering, his face serious and thoughtful. "Non...I guess not. I guess what I mean is, I'd like it if dey had tol' us b'fore dey were all dead, y'know what I mean? I know dey couldn' do it b'fore Mama died, b'cause I was pretty young when she died, but it would have been better, I t'ink, if Mercy an' I could have spoken to dem 'bout all dis once we found out."   
Mercy agreed. "I t'ink Genard's right. Dat letter was a nice explanation, an' it helps us understand some stuff, but I know we'd both like to be able to speak to dem, an' we can'. Dat's disappointin'."   
"I'm sorry 'bout dat, I really am." Mattie told them. "But Jean-Luc an' I tol' dem dey had to make de decisions on deir own, b'cause dey were adults, dey got demselves into de situation an' it was up to dem to deal wit' it an' do what dey t'ought was best. I'll do all I can to answer your questions an' help you, but I can' help de way dey could, an' for dat I apologize."   
"Don' be sorry, Tante. You were all protectin' us an' we appreciate dat. We jus' wish we could talk to dem too, y'know?" Mercy explained.   
"May I ask you bot' somethin'?"   
"Of course, Tante." Genard replied. "You can ask us anythin'. You don' have to ask us if you can."   
"Is learnin' de truth gon' change anythin' for either of you? Dat was my big worry...I know how close you've always been an' I was concerned dat findin' out dis information would do somethin' to dat relationship."   
"Oh Tante Mattie..." Mercy sighed, exchanging a smile with Genard. They had talked about what Tante Mattie's questions would be as they walked home, and that was the first one they both agreed on. "Of course it won' change anythin'...we talked 'bout it already..."   
"Yeah...we're gon' take it one day at a time an' get used to de whole idea an' stuff like dat. But you can' jus' take t'irty years of a relationship an' destroy it wit' one letter. It don' work dat way." Genard finished. "Mercy's my sister. I've always t'ought of her dat way, even b'fore de truth came out, an' dis ain' gon' change de way I t'ink."   
"Likewise. I've always considered the guys in dis guild to be my brothers, an' since Genard an' I were always so close, I don' see why dat should change jus' b'cause we found out 'bout somethin' 'bout de past dat jus' makes it official."   
"Well, I'm glad to hear dat." Mattie smiled. "I had a feelin' you'd bot' say dat, but I wanted to make sure. When are you gon' share de news wit' everyone else?"   
Genard and Mercy looked at each other and shrugged. Mercy answered the question for both of them with a laugh. "Maybe tomorrow. Or tonight, if we have to break up any popcorn fights. But we're still kinda tryin' to wrap our minds 'round it, an' it would be nice to be able to sleep on it first, b'fore tellin' de others."   
"I t'ink dat is a wonderful idea." Mattie agreed. 

In the living room, the popcorn fight was over and so was the movie. The assassins had gone upstairs to their various bedrooms for the night, while Theoren, Emil, Claude and Zoe continued to sit around the living room and try to find something to watch on television. Mercy and Genard decided not to join them, preferring to keep separate from everyone until the next morning. On her own way up to bed, Tante Mattie paused by the living room and spoke briefly to the other thieves.   
"How was de movie?"   
"Good...but where are Genard an' Mercy?" Theoren asked, concern in his voice. He was the oldest of the thieves, the family's father figure, and had not been expecting them to miss out on the movie.   
"Dey're upstairs...dey went out for a little while, but dey're fine."   
"Why didn't they join us? They missed a great movie." Zoe commented from her spot stretched out on one of the plush overstuffed armchairs.   
"You will find out all in due time, I jus' wanted to tell you dat everythin' is okay. Adjustments will have to be made, but other den dat, t'ings are fine. Please don' worry' 'bout dem, dere is no need of it."   
"Okay, Tante. If you say so." Theoren said. "Are you goin' to bed now?"   
"Yes...an' I suggest you don' stay up late. Sleep is important, remember." Mattie told them, the den mother in her showing in her voice as always. "Bon soir, mes enfants."   
"'Night, Tante." the four thieves chimed in unison.   
Once they knew the old woman was out of earshot, Emil spoke up. "What do you s'pose dat's all 'bout?"   
"Don' know, but I t'ink she's not kiddin' when she said we'll find out in due time." Claude yawned, standing up and stretching his muscular frame. "I also t'ink she's right. I'm beat. 'Night guys."   
"Oh we're right b'hind you, Claude." Theoren grinned. "We jus' needed to be reminded dat it's past our bedtime. We'll have to wait to see what de new day brings, as always." 

The next morning, each of the four thieves found a piece of paper had been slid under their bedroom doors. The papers said simply: "Please meet us in the library at 10 a.m. ~G and M"   
The notes arose the curiosity of the others and they found themselves joining Genard and Mercy in the library promptly at ten a.m., wondering what was up.   
"Go ahead Mercy." Genard nodded once everyone was seated.   
Mercy smiled brilliantly, her green eyes sparkling like emeralds. "First of all, we're sorry we missed de movie last night, but we had other t'ings on our minds. Second, we do have a reason for callin' you here dis mornin'. Tante Mattie told us bot' somethin' last night dat we need to share wit' you. Later we'll tell de assassins."   
"We wanted to tell you first, well...duh." Genard grinned. "You guys are our fam'ly, our closest friends in de world. If we didn' tell you first, it would have jus' been wrong."   
"Dere's a background we're gon' have to go into...dis all came on us very suddenly, an' we certainly weren' expectin' it, but now dat we know, we're workin' to adjust to de news an' move on." Mercy continued.   
"I'm confused..." Emil complained.   
"Stop goin' 'round it an' jus' say it guys. Whatever it is, you're obviously okay, so it can' be a bad t'ing..." Theoren encouraged.   
"Oh it's a good t'ing, yeah." Genard replied. "Sorry for confusin' you, Red. We don' mean to, but for awhile we were pretty confused too."   
"So...what is it? What's going on?" Zoe asked.   
"Quite simply, we found out dat de year b'fore Genard was born, Yvonne an' my father had an affair, which dey kept from everyone except for Jean-Luc an' Tante Mattie. When de time came dey tol' de truth to Pierre an' my mother an' decided not to tell anyone else. Tante Mattie told Genard an' I last night." Mercy explained.   
"What are you gettin' at?" Claude asked. "Dey had an affair...so what? It was a long time ago."   
"Claude..." Mercy began, but she was interrupted by Emil, whose eyes widened in realization.   
"Oh mon dieu..." Emil gasped. "Are you sayin' what I t'ink you're sayin'?"   
"I t'ink so, Emil." Genard replied. "We didn' know it until last night, but you can ask Tante Mattie if you don' b'lieve us. I'm Mercy's brother, an' it's not jus' a word anymore. It's real. As real as we are." 

To Be Continued... 


End file.
